SaLt CoNsUmPtIoN!!

Less salt when cooking doesn’t mean less flavor. You can always add some herbs and spices instead. Your taste buds will barley notice the difference but your heart will surely do! 😀

I know a lot of people who add salt to their meals without even tasting the food!

High amounts of salt, known as sodium in your diet is unhealthy on a number of levels. It causes hypertension, heart diseases, water retention , weight gain, stomach ucer and stomach cancer. It is also not convenient for people suffering from kidney problems.

Small amounts of sodium present naturally in the food are good for us. We need this mineral in small amounts, to compensate for the sodium loss that usually occurs when we sweat and urinate.Too little can cause spasms (sudden contraction of muscles), poor heart rhythms, sudden death and even increases the risk of heart attack in hypertensive patients.

Just how much salt do we consume?

According to the Food and Drug Administrations, the average salt intake is 1 teaspoon a day, which is a daily quantity of 2,400 milligrams

High sodium intake becomes unhealthy when we start to include it in almost all our meals or drinks.

There are several ways to cut down on salt intake, such as avoiding processed foods, reading food labels before purchasing, planning home-cooked meals instead of ordering from outside.

But some foods have hidden salt content, and you should be aware of that!

Here are some common terms and their meanings:

Sodium-free – less than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving

Very low-sodium – 35 milligrams or less per serving

Low-sodium – 140 milligrams or less per serving

Reduced sodium – usual sodium level is reduced by 25 percent

Unsalted, no salt added or without added salt – made without the salt that’s normally used, but still contains the sodium that’s a natural part of the food itself

According to the The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture state, food that has the claim “healthy”, must not exceed 600 mg sodium per labeled serving size.

1- Breakfast cereals:

They may be sweet with health benefits but may contain high levels of sodium! Read the label well!

2- Bread:

The best option will be the brown of course or the whole wheat. But other healthy breads might contain high amounts of sodium like bagels, white baguette, French toast, or chapatti.

Check the label!

3- Cheeses:

Cheeses can be very high in sodium if we consume the wrong kinds. Usually all kind of cheeses are high in salt, from white to yellow to processed ones.

So be cautious about the right choices, choose the cheeses that say “low in sodium”! Low-fat cheeses are not necessarily low in salt!

4- Soups:

Many canned and instant soups contain more sodium than the soup we make at home. At least, when we prepare our own soup, we are aware of how much salt we are adding, so we can control it.

Again, check the label and look for the least sodium content!

5- Soya Sauce:

When we say Soya sauce, it means sushi. But do you know that you can turn a super healthy sushi meal into a high blood pressure one?

Usually, the light Soya sauce means the low-sodium sauce. So go for this option! Seafoods are already high in sodium, so no need to add extra salt to it!

I mentioned before the ULRA WATER, this water is sodium-free. A lot of doctors agreed with the fact that it is healthy, but personally I think that this trace mineral should be present in small amount.